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CHRONOLOGY
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| 1927
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 David
Rosenmann-Taub is born May 3 in Santiago de Chile to Manuel
Rosenmann and Dora Taub, émigrés from Poland.
A precocious child, he begins to read at one and a half. His
father, a polyglot and a reader of great critical intelligence,
will introduce him to world literature. His mother, a consummate
pianist, starts teaching him piano when he is two. He writes
his first poems at three, and by the age of seven he knows
himself to be a poet. His parents, aware of his exceptional
gift, support his vocation. At nine, he takes on his first
piano student. |
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| 1933-1943
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| Attends
the Colegio Europeo and the Liceo de Aplicación. Writes
poetry daily. In his early teens, he conceives El Adolescente
(The Adolescent) and the first volume of Cortejo
y Epinicio (Cortege and Epinicion). He composes
parts of both works during recess periods at school. |
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| 1935-1946
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| Pursues
his musical education. Studies piano with Roberto Duncker,
who urges him to become a concert pianist. Studies musical
methodology with Carlos Isamitt, rhythm with Andrée
Haas (a pupil of Dalcroze), and composition, counterpoint
and fugue with the composer Pedro Humberto Allende, who encourages
him to devote himself full-time to composition. |
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| 1941 |
| Impressed
by his talent, the writer Luis Merino Reyes introduces him
to the Sindicato de Escritores de Chile (the Writers' Guild
of Chile.) The poet Antonio de Undurraga, secretary of the
Sindicato, asks to see something he has written. He gives
Undurraga the manuscript of his long poem El Adolescente.
Undurraga eventually surprises the fourteen-year-old poet
with a copy of the new literary magazine Caballo de Fuego,
in which he has had the poem published. "This is what
I think of your poem," he tells Rosenmann-Taub. |
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| 1944-1948 |
| Studies
Spanish at the Instituto Pedagógico of the University
of Chile. Also takes courses in botany, astronomy, anatomy,
English, French, Portuguese, stylistics, aesthetics, and art.
These studies will form part of a vast erudition acquired
through a lifelong practice of concentrated reading in several
languages and disciplines. He contributes to the upkeep of
the household by giving private lessons in piano, grammar,
and literature. |
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| 1948 |
| Graduates
from the University of Chile with the title of Professor of
Spanish. Enters the manuscript of Volume One of Cortejo
y Epinicio in a contest sponsored by the Sindicato de
Escritores; wins the coveted prize for poetry. |
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| 1949 |
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Arturo
Soria, a refugee from Spain who has founded the prestigious
Chilean publishing house Cruz del Sur, publishes Volume
One of Cortejo y Epinicio. The book receives wide
acclaim in the press, including a reputation-making review
in the country's largest-circulation newspaper, El Mercurio,
from Alone, the leading critic of Chile.
Rosenmann-Taub
records a number of poems for El Archivo de la Palabra
(The Archive of the Word), a series of author recordings
produced by Soria. A radio broadcast of the recording triggers
so much interest that the entire pressing sells out in one
day. |
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| 1951 |
Cruz
del Sur publishes Los Surcos Inundados (The
Flooded Furrows) for which he receives the Premio Municipal de
Poesía (the Chilean equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize
for Poetry).
For
his (unpublished) book El Regazo Luminoso (The
Shining Lap), he receives the Premio Nacional de Poesía
de la Universidad de Concepción (The National Prize
of Poetry of the University of Concepción)
Meets
Georg Friedrich Nicolai, scientist, pacifist, and friend of
Einstein. At Nicolai's urging, studies physics. |
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| 1952 |
| La
Enredadera del Júbilo (The
Vine of Jubilance) is published in the magazine Atenea and then in book
form by Cruz del Sur. |
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| 1952-1975 |
| During
this period, although he writes steadily, he publishes only
one small volume, in 1962: Cuaderno de Poesía
(Notebook of Poetry) (Taller Edition 99). His publisher,
Arturo Soria, returns to Spain, shutting down his operation
in Chile. The poet's father falls into financial difficulties.
From morning till night Rosenmann-Taub gives private lessons
to support his extended family, and then stays up writing
poetry into the small hours. |
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| 1955 |
| Meets
the novelist Witold Gombrowicz, who expresses his admiration
for Cortejo y Epinicio. |
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| 1962 |
| Publication
of Cuaderno de Poesía (Notebook
of Poetry) (Taller Edition 99). |
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| 1973 |
A
military coup topples the government of Salvador Allende.
Many
of Rosenmann-Taub's possessions are stolen, including over
five thousand pages of his poetry in manuscript. |
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| 1975 |
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In Buenos
Aires meets the writer Victoria Ocampo, who reacts enthusiastically
to the manuscript of El Cielo en la Fuente (The
Sky in the Fountain). |
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| 1976-1978 |
Travels
in South America and Europe on a grant from the Oriental Studies
Foundation. Writes Ajorca de Europa (Anklet
of Europe) (unpublished).
Under
the sponsorship of the Oriental Studies Foundation, gives
lectures in New York City on his poetry and on San Juan de
la Cruz, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Monet, Vermeer,
Beethoven, Ravel and Albéniz, among others. |
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| 1976 |
| Los
Despojos del Sol: Ananda Primera (The
Remains of the Sun: First Ananda) published by Esteoeste in Buenos Aires. |
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| 1977 |
| El
Cielo en la Fuente (The Sky in the
Fountain) published
by Esteoeste. |
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| 1978 |
Los
Despojos del Sol: Ananda Segunda (The
Remains of the Sun: Second Ananda) and the second edition of Volume One
of Cortejo y Epinicio published by Esteoeste.
Meets
Nahúm Kamenetzky, who, in his late seventies, works
as a delivery boy for the printer of Rosenmann-Taub's books.
Discovers that Kamenetzky has kept numerous notebooks of aphorisms,
whose veracity the poet finds striking; collaborating with
Kamenetzky, he begins to turn some of these into the book
Al Rey Su Trono (To the King His
Throne). |
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| 1980 |
| Receives
a grant from the Oriental Studies Foundation. |
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| 1983 |
| Al
Rey Su Trono (To the King His Throne) published
by Esteoeste in Santiago, with illustrations by the poet. |
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| 1985-2005 |
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Settles
in the United States. Dedicates himself to his artistic
activities while giving private lessons in literature, music
and art.
Records
a number of his own piano compositions, including Abecechedario (Alphabet
Book), Morir Para Nacer (To Die in order
to Live), and Fuegos Naturales (Natural
Fires).
Assembles
lifetime collection of his own drawings, including the series
Alarde (Boast) and La Bofetada (The Slap). Continues to
draw.
Writes
prolifically. Revises the second, third and fourth volumes
of Cortejo y Epinicio, La Mañana Eterna,
and the
twelve volumes of Los
Despojos del Sol.
Prepares an edition of El Cielo en la Fuente with
commentaries by himself, as well as a book of commentaries
on a selection of his poems, for which English and French
translations are under way. His poetic works, in their
entirety, will amount to more than forty volumes.
In
2000, the nonprofit Corda Foundation is established for
the purpose of preserving, disseminating, and studying Rosenmann-Taub's
works.
In
2002 LOM Ediciones publishes a new edition of Cortejo
y Epinicio (Volume I); in 2003, El
Mensajero (The Messenger; Volume
II of Cortejo y Epinicio); in 2004 El
Cielo en la Fuente/La Mañana Eterna (The
Sky in the Fountain/The Eternal Morning; in one volume)
and País Más
Allá (Country Beyond);
in 2005, Poesiectomía (Poetryectomy); in 2006, Los Despojos del Sol, Anandas I and II (The Remains of the Sun).
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